The number of people directly managed by a supervisor is called what?

• A. Span of Control
• B. Subordinates
• C. Direct Reports
• D. Direct Managers

Answer: (A)

Span of control is the number of people a supervisor directly manages. It’s the measure of how wide a manager’s direct supervision extends, telling you how many subordinates report to them and how many they must oversee day to day. The term captures the scope of a manager’s direct responsibility, which is exactly what the question asks for.

Subordinates refers to the people being managed, not the count itself; direct reports are those who report to the manager, again describing the group rather than the size of that group; direct managers would be the supervisors, not the number they oversee.